shooting in the wind article by Darin Cooper question

[4IDARCHER]

I just read the article by Darin Cooper about bowhunting in the wind. I agree completely with him about removing the quiver (when possible) and shooting arrows with the lowest profile you can. I shoot the Victory VAPs, very comparable to the injections he talks about in the article and agree with a good quality mech broadhead for flight profile. What I was wondering is if he (or anyone on here) has used FOBs to decrease profile and wind drift of their arrows in flight? I believe this is one of the main benefits of FOBs and was wondering why more of the high profile hunters and writers do not use them?

 

[J-Daddy]

I've shot them some but I went back to vanes. FOB's fly really well and steer a broadhead great..From what I've seen they do a good job of bucking the wind too.
My problems with them were, they screwed up my anchor point, I hated them digging into my chin at full draw, they are loud, they create a lot of drag so the arrow drops off pretty fast at long range, it's easy to loose them if your not careful when going through thick stuff and I always broke the hell out of them shooting groups. They work, but they have some draw backs too.

 

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

I haven't shot FOBs on any of my personal setups... Just can't convince myself to try them. I don't always shoot fall-away rest designs so that was problem #1. I think the extra drag would limit the long range potential also. Just my thoughts - like I said, other than playing with them a little when I was at Hoyt on test bows I have not used them - so I can't confirm how they perform in the wind. Might actually be a good reason to use them. If I had to bet though, my money would say that short, low-profile vanes (used with an expandable broadhead) would probably produce better results. To answer the question as to why high profile guys don't use them... If FITA shooters aren't using them in competition then you would have a really hard time telling me they're better in the wind than vanes. Those guys don't get paid unless they excel in the wind, and 1/4 of a FITA round is shot at 98.4 yards. 4IDArcher, if you have some done some testing that says otherwise - I'm willing to listen - I'd have to see some really big benefits to counter the drawbacks before I decided to try them.

Coop

 

[4IDARCHER]

Mr. Cooper,
I am actually pretty new to the FOBS myself, so my testing would be very limited on them. I think though the FITA guys can't use them do to rules, but not 100%sure. I think utube and the FOB website has some good videos of them being shot in a crosswind and showing the difference. I do agree with J-Daddy though. They do have their drawbacks, but are worth a try.

 

[weaver]

Fobs are legal for FITA i do believe. I got some this spring to try and so far im impressed and will be using them this fall for sure. Unless some unforseen issues arise while hunting i can see me using these forever. I didnt think about getting them hung up in brush and losing them. Ill see if that turns out to be a problem. Right now we got 30mph wind here in OH. Im gonna go outside and shoot a couple arrows with vanes and fobs. Ill post my results

 

[4IDARCHER]

Looking forward to seeing that test for sure!

 

[weaver]

Results are in....shooting a 440gr arrow 16%foc at 267fps. The vanes where 2" blazers. I shot at 30yds standing beside a windblock so the wind wouldnt affect me while shooting. Id guess the wind was around 25mph with occasional gusts more then that. Both the fobs and vanes consistently grouped together approx 3" to the left of the bullseye. I actually busted a fob with a vane fletched arrow......The only difference i saw was that the arrows with the fobs were always straight in the target while the arrows with vanes were usually pointing a little downwind. Bottomline is i dont think either one has an advantage at that range. If i had more time i would have shot at longer range but i dont think theres gonna be a huge difference. Im shooting a pretty heavy arrow with high foc so that could be a factor as well.